Vacuum cleaner and closure and dusting tool converter coupling therefor



J 1954 w. A. HUMPHREY ETAL 2,665,148

VACUUM CLEANER END CLOSURE AND DUSTING TOOL CONVERTER COUPLING THEREFOR5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 50, 1946 INVENTORS. Warren A. Humphrey flale6., fierben- 5. M ATTORNEY.

J n- 1954 w. A. HUMPHREY El'AL 2,665,143

VACUUM CLEANER END CLOSURE AND DUSTING TOOL CONVERTER COUPLING THEREFORFiled Oct. 50, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VENTORS. Warren A .Humphray DaleL. Gerber ATTORNEY.

J 1954 w. A. HUMPHREY ETAL 2,665,148

VACUUM CLEANER END CLOSURE AND DUSTING TOOL. CONVERTER COUPLING THEREFOR3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. 30, 1946 nov Fig. 7

' INVENTORS. Warren/l. Humphrey Dale L. G rb 5' A ATTORNEY.

Patented Jan. 5, 1954 UNITED STATEg FFECE VACUUM CLEANER END. CLOSUREAND DUSTING TOOL CONVERTER CDU- PLING THEREFOR poration of Ohio.

Application October 30, 1946;. Serial No. 706,748-

1 Claim...

This invention relates. to. suction; cleaners; and; more particularly tomeans for connecting a dust ing. tool hose to the end caps; of av tanktype suction-cleaner.

According to this invention both the. suction endcap and the blower andcap.- are provided with a. socket: for swivelly receiving a. couplingmember securedto the end of the flexible; hose. The side walls of. thesocket are cut away to receive. the sides of a normally oval shaped wireclamp member and a coupling member is. provided with a. shoulder adaptedto.- move behind. the sides of the wirewhereby the coupling memberisswivel- 1y secured in. the socket. Both. the. socket and couplingmember are preferably of tapered formation whereby the sides of thewire. clamp are distended by the mere insertion of the coupling memberintoithe socket and the coacting tapered. portions will form a seal witheach other. The lower end of. the wire clamp member is held rigid- 1'3;with respect to the socket and a slidable manwhy operable member is.carried by the end cap above the socket and is. attached to the upperend. of the wire clampwhereby depression of. the slidable member willdistend the sides of the wire clamp whereby the coupling member may. beeasily released from the socket.

According to another feature of this invention an ejecting sleeve istelescopedwith relation to that portion. of the coupling member whichcarriestheshoulder and is spring biased to extended position whereby thecoupling member will be automatically ejected when the wire clamp isreleased.

Other objects and advanta es of this inventionwill become apparent asthe description pro.- ceeds when taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings in whichz' Figure 1 is aside view of a suctioncleaner showing a coupling according to this invention applied; to boththe suction end cap and the blower end cap;

Figure 2 is atransverse vertical sectional view of the blower end cap.taken on line 2.-2 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of theyarrows;

Figure 3 is an inclined vertical sectional View of the suction end captaken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 4 is av longitudinal vertical sectional view of a couplingaccording to. this invention. showing a spring pressed. ejecting sleeveapplied thFQ TQUQ;

Figur 5.. sh ws the-coupling member of Fig. 4. in extended position;

Figure 6 is. a. front plan view of the socket 2i memberof-Eigs 4 and 5with a modified; form 01 coupling member therein; and

Figure; 7 is a longitudinal cross-sectionala View on. line 1-1 of Fig. 6and; looking; the direc tion of the arrows..

Referring to. the drawings. the coupling: of; this; invention is shownapplied to both the-blower end and suction end cap of a suctioncleanerthe form. of a, casing Ill mounted for transitory movementonrunners H. The casing H1 is; pres. vided with a: removable suctionend. (22:15 l2; t0.- provide access toa filter M withinv the: casing;Ills. The, end cap i2 is provided with a. suction; opening l3 forreceiving one end; of thesuctipn hose lie-connected at. its opposite endto a suitable cleaning tool.

The casing I0 is also provided with a. blower end, cap l-8 having asocket 9 for interchan eably receiving a coupling member attached to thehose l5. as will be; explained hereinafier, The usual switch St forcontrolling the opera tion of the motor and a, carryinghandle Si is.mounted on top of, the casing It);

The end cap l2 comprises a metallic. plate, H having a forwardlyextending depressed portion I2, to which is secured a conical socketmember l3 positioned; at an angle immediately rearward 1y of the suctionopening l3, an appearance 0&8: ing 14 preferably of a phenoliccondensation; product having a forwardly extending protuberance 16 inwhich the suction opening; 13 is formed, and a carrying handle 11suitably s e, cured to the lower side of the covering, 14 and; theprotuberance- 16;

The suction end cap 12, at its upper edge, is

provided with a hook 18 receivable in a. suitable socket in the suctionend of the casing H) forsecuring the. upper side of the end cap {2 to;the casing H). The lower side of the. end cap l2 detachably secured tothe casing [11- by a releas able latch mechanism of any suitablecharacter; 'Ihe.v socket. member 13 has vertically extend..- ing s1ots54cut in its sides to receivethe ide Wires of. a wire clamp member 83normally maintained,

in. oval shape, as shown in full lines of: Fig. 3,,by

its. own resiliency. At its. lower end the wire clamp 53, is, rigidlyheld by resting at. 85 against the forwardly extending wall of theappearance;

cover it. At. its. upper end the wire clamp. 83 is attached to a lever82, having its rear; end pivoted to the. book 8, nd its forwar endpositioned to be contacted by they lower Syriac-e. 8i

of. a manually actuatablc but n 8B r qiproqably' mounted. in the top ofthe end cap l2,

Attached to the hose 15 in any suitable manner is a coupling member 86,of tapered formation, to seal in the socket 13 when in engaged position.A shoulder 81 is provided on the coupling member 86 in such a positionas to be engaged by the sides of the clamp spring 83 when the couplingmember 86 is inserted into the socket.

Movement of the coupling member 86 into the socket 13 will cause thetapered part thereof to automatically distend the sides of the wireclamp 83 until the shoulder 81 moves behind the sides of the wire clampmember to engage behind them. Depression of the button 8!] will depressthe upper end of the clamp wire 83 so as to distend its sides, to thedotted line position of Fig. 3, whereby the coupling member 86 may bereadily removed.

The socket I!) of the blower end cap [8 is substantially the same as thesocket T3 and of tapered formation to seal with the coupling member 85except that additional air exit openings 46 are provided for reducingthe back pressure when the coupling member 86 is not in use.

A clamp wire 53 similar to the clamping wire 89 has its sides extendingthrough vertical slots 54 in the sides 01 the socket I9. The lower endof the clamping wire 53 is anchored to the end cap l8 by one of the lugs48 which are utilized to secure the socket Is to the end cap. The upperends of the wire clamp 53 are suitably attached to a member slidablysecured to the inner surface of the end cap it by mean of a clampingplate 59. At its upper end the member 51 is suitably secured to amanually actuatable button 99 in the top side of the end cap H3. Thebutton 49 is mounted for vertical sliding movement by a pin and slotconnection with one of the bolts which is used to secure the end cap Itto the casing Ii]. Depression of the button 40 will distend the sides ofthe wire clamp 53 to the dotted line position of Fig. 2 whereby thesides of the clamping wire 53 will be disengaged from shoulder 87 andpermit the coupling member 86 to be released from the socket l9.

According to this invention the coupling member 26 of Figs. 1 to 3,inclusive, may be provided with a telescoping sleeve, spring biased insuch a manner that when the wire clamps 53 or 83 are released thecoupling member will be automatically ejected from the sockets.

Figs. 4 to 7, inclusive, show two modifications of such a construction.The socket and latching members of these modifications are substantiallythe same as that previously described in connection with Figs. 1 to 3,inclusive, but for the purposes of disclosure have been given newreference characters because the construction is slightly different.

Figs. 4 and 6 show a slightly modified construction of the socket andclamping wire. Socket member 92 has a cylindrical portion 93 and aconical portion 94 and is slotted at 95 to receivethe side wires of theclamping wire 9! The bottom end of the wire 99 is secured at 9| to anend cap 58 which may be either a suction or blower end cap. A manuallyactuatable button 89 is secured to the upper end of the wire clamp 96and is mounted for reciprocatory movement in the upper side of the endcap 88 whereby depression of the button 89 will spread the sides of thewire clamp 96 outwardly of the slots 95.

In Figs. 4 and 5 the coupling member comprises a sleeve 96 having acylindrical portion I92 and a conical portion I03 interfitting with thecylindrical and conical portions of the socket 92 and a shoulder 81 withwhich the sides of the wire clamp engage. A sleeve 99 is suitablysecured to the hose l5 and to the coupling member 99 so as to form aspace therebetween. In the space thus formed is a compression spring 98and a reciprocating sleeve 9'! made of any suitable material such as athermoplastic, hard rubber, or a phenolic condensation product. At itsinner end the sleeve 99 ha an outturned flange H16 which cooperates withan inwardly projecting annular shoulder l9l substantially midway of thelength of the sleeve 97 to limit the extension of the sleeve 91 underthe action of the spring 98 which abuts against the other edge of theshoulder I0! and against the inner wall of the shoulder 81 of thecoupling member 96.

The parts are normally in the position shown in Fig. 5. Insertion of thecoupling member 96 into the socket 92 will cause the rear end of thesleeve 91 to engage the shoulder at the rear of the cylindrical portion93 of the socket 92 to telescope it relative to the coupling member 96and sleeve 99 against the action of the spring 98. At the same time theconical surface E93 will engage the sides of the wire clamp 90 anddistend them until they engage behind the shoulder 81.

Subsequent depression of the knob 89 will spread the sides of the wireclamp 90 to disengage them from the shoulder 81. The spring 93 will thenautomatically force the coupling member 96 out of the socket in anobvious manner.

The coupling of Figs. 6 and 7 differs over that of Figs. 4 and 5 only inthat the sleeve 9! is replaced by a metallic sleeve 104 having an in-'turned flange I05 which cooperates with out-- turned flange I01 onsleeve I06 to limit the out ward extension of the sleeve I04 under theaction of the spring 98 which in turn acts between the flange I05 andthe shoulder 8'1. A rolled over end I08 on sleeve I04 abuts against theinner end of the socket 92 to compress the spring upon inwardtelescoping movement of the sleeves I04 and I06. The operation issubstantially the same as that of Figs. 4 and 5.

From the foregoing it can be seen that this invention provides a suctioncleaner in which both the suction end cap and the blower end cap areprovided with a socket member for receiving a coupling attached to aflexible hose in which the coupling member i merely inserted into thesocket so as to distend a clamping wire so that the coupling member isautomatically securely attached to the end cap and is permittedswiveling movement relative thereto. In order to remove the couplingmember from either end cap it is merely necessary to press a slidablebutton whereby the sides of the wire clamp are distended to release thecoupling member.

While we have shown but a number of modifications of our invention it isto be understood that these modifications are to be taken as i1-lustrative only and not in a limiting sense. We do not wish to belimited to the particular structure shown and described but to includeall equivalent variations thereof except as limited by the scope of theclaim.

We claim:

In a suction cleaner having a casing and an end closure therefor,coupling means for detachably connecting a cleaning tool hose to saidend closure comprising, a socket member carried by said end closure andhaving a conical sealing portion, said socket member having slitsextending entirely through its side walls near one end of said conicalportion, a spring wire surrounding said socket member at said slits andnormally stressed to take an elongated shape with its side portionsbiased to lie in said slits interiorly of said socket member and its endportions extending above and below said socket member between saidslits, a coupling member attached to one end of said hose, said couplingmember having a conical sealing portion for cooperation with the conicalsealing portion of said socket memher and an annular shoulder positionedto lie behind and against the portions of said wire positionedinteriorly of said socket member when said conical portions are incooperative engagement, one of said end portions being anchored to saidend cap and manually actuatable means extending beyond the periphery ofand carried by said end closure and engaging the other end portion ofsaid spring wire to move said other end portion toward said anchored endportion so as to move the side portions thereof which are normallypositioned interiorly of said socket 20 member outwardly of said slitsto remove them from behind said shoulder.

WARREN A. HUMPHREY. DALE C. GERBER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberNumber Name Date Leland July 23, 1889 Smith June 22, 1909 Cutlip Mar.21, 1916 Martin Feb. 22, 1921 Martinet July 15, 1930 Carlstedt Sept. 1,1936 Lofgren Dec. 5, 1939 Brown May 6, 1941 Lofgren Sept. 2, 1941Harrison Oct. 28, 1941 Hansson June 23, 1942 Clements Aug. 10, 1943FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date France July 20, 1939 Great Britain Aug. 2,1944

